Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Purchased by Anchor Capital Advisors LLC

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 28.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,608 shares during the quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $14,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 151.3% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 24,881 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,028,000 after purchasing an additional 14,981 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.6% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 67,507 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,355,000 after buying an additional 2,321 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 351,506 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $96,242,000 after acquiring an additional 5,502 shares during the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,625,000. Finally, Madison Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 126,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,753,000 after acquiring an additional 9,663 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $310.00 to $280.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $291.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.40.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE:APD opened at $268.71 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $268.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $256.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.74 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.82. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.24 and a 12 month high of $307.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 21.24%. Research analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.90%.

Air Products and Chemicals Profile

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and related services in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, India, and internationally. The company produces atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and syngas; and specialty gases for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, energy production, medical, food, and metals.